Jockey goal combined with y-shape goaltender therefore

ABSTRACT

A device for use by children or adults in training or practicing hockey, characterized by its ability to return or deflect hockey pucks and so shaped that it represents a goalie&#39;&#39;s position in front of a standard goal which causes the players to develop habits which they can translate to actual play. The device is affixed in a forwardly disposed V-shape in front of a hockey goal whereby pucks striking the device are diverted to either side thereof. Additionally, the device has an aperture therethrough simulating the opening between the legs of a player and a pocket therein for receiving and holding a puck simulating the catching of a puck by a player.

United States Patent Greaney .IOCKEY GOAL COMBINED WITH Y-SHAPEGOALTENDER THEREFORE Daniel F. Greaney, 85 Chesbrough Rd., West Roxbury,Mass. 02134 Filed: July 10, 1972 App1.No.: 270,250

Inventor:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONSGreat Britain 273/29 A Primary Examiner-George J. Marlo AssistantExaminerR. T. Stouffer [57] ABSTRACT A device for use by children oradults in training or practicing hockey, characterized by its ability toreturn or deflect hockey pucks and so shaped that it represents agoalies position in front of a standard goal which causes the players todevelop habits which they can translate to actual play. The device isaffixed in a forwardly disposed V-shape in front of a hockey goalwhereby pucks striking the device are diverted to either side thereof.Additionally, the device has an aperture therethrough simulating theopening between the legs of a player and a pocket therein for receivingand holding a puck simulating the catching of a puck by a player.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures JOCKEY GOAL COMBINED WITH Y-SHAPE GOALTENDERTHEREFORE This invention relates to hockey, and more particularly to adevice useful in practicing and training for hockey players.

Hockey is a well-known game and is played very actively in the northernclimates where ice is available. Several players wearing ice skates,using a hockey stick, cause the puck, a hard round rubber object, to besent past a goaltender who tries to prevent its passage into a netcalled the goal. Quite often the players do not have enough players topractice hockey on the ice; consequently, a device which would enablethem to play and practice without the need of a goaltender, wouldaccommodate this shortage of players.

The goaltender necessarily is the object of numerous injuries. He isrequired to wear considerable padding and special equipment for thepuck, if it hits him, will cause injury and pain. Therefore, if duringpractice sessions and in training one were able to eliminate the needfor a goaltender, injuries from the game could be considerably reduced.Moreover, the special equipment which goaltenders would require wouldnot be necessary during practice and training sessions.

No such equipment has been made available in the prior art, however, inother fields such as baseball devices have been made to return the ballto pitchers so that they could practice pitching. However, the ball isreturned directly and in hockey a specific training requirement is thatthe hockey player aim at certain segments of the net which are likely tobe unguarded so they will be able to score. Moreover, they are requiredto take a shot and if the guard deflects it like he doesthey mustattempt again to head towards that new place so that they can recapturethe hockey puck and try for another goal. The present invention,therefore, delivers or returns the puck in such a way that it duplicateswhat one would encounter in actual play.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a goaltenderfor the game of hockey.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the injuries togoaltenders by eliminating their nee during practice and trainingsessions.

Another object of the present invention is to enable hockey practice andtraining sessions, although all the players, especially a goaltender arenot available.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a goaltender whichduplicates that encountered in actual play.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a goaltender,whereby the equipment required of goaltenders is not necessary inplaying hockey on the street or ice.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will bebetter understood from the follow ing detailed specification, especiallywhen read in conjunction with the attached drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a straight view of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, we see a hockey player and the presentinvention from on top of the ice or just above it. Ordinary goal l1 andthe hockey player 16 are encountered on ice 24 quite often, with hisstick 31, the

player 16 causes puck 17 to be launched or sent with a ratherconsiderable force to the goal 1 1. Normally another player dressed inthe necessary padded equipment to protect him tends the goal, his job isto intercept the puck and he causes it to go to the left or the right.All the players including players from the opposing team, head for thepuck if it goes left or right and the goaltender does this very swiftly.Accordingly, the players on both teams must attempt to immediatelyretreave the puck when a player has tried to score a goal and have thepuck diverted by the goaltender.

It is obvious then that the goaltender is in the line of tire and can beinjured by the puck, however, although inherent in the game, injuriescan be reduced if during hockey practice or training sessions thegoaltender is duplicated by means of the present device. Referring againto FIG. 1 we note that a device 22 called the goaltender is placedimmediately in front of goal 11. The supports 20 keep the goaltendererect on the ice. We note two slopping services 12 and 13 separated byan angle theta, this angle can be changed at will by pushing in orpulling out the slopping surfaces. This enables the coach to change theangle of deflection so that the players do not become accustomed tohaving the puck diverted the same amount of angle everytime. It alsoenables the coach to introduce variety into the play.

The player 16 with his stick 31 now launches puck 17 along path 18, itstrikes the slopping surface 13 and is diverted off to side along path34. We note that the puck along path 34 will cause the player 16 ananybody in his immediate environment to immediately skate to the rightof the tender to retrieve the puck and attempt a new goal, or if it is acompeting player, to get the puck and bring it back to the other end ofthe ice. It is seen then that the goaltender in actual practiceduplicates a real live goaltender in every essential way by the simpleexpedient of deflecting the puck to the right or left depending uponwhich surface is struck.

Referring now to FIG. 2, we see the goaltender of the present inventionstraight on, we have painted on here for purposes of esthetics an actualplayer. The player presents approximately this sort of frame, thecorners of the goal 11 which are 37 and 38 must be the targets for theplayers. Goaltender cannot cover the entire goal, accordingly he centershimself and necessarily leaves open the comers 38 and 37 during actualplay. Accordingly, the players must develop motor reactions which forcethem to head for those positions. However, their control over the puckis limited andthey quite often have their puck intercepted by the goalie22. And as seen above depending upon the sloping surface the puck isdiverted to the left or right. This is what one encounters in actualplay for the goalie as he intercepts the puck, obviously attempts togetrid of it immediately so that it can not slip into the goal byaccident, so if he is on the left side of the goal will cause the puckto go to the left, if he is on the right side of the goal he will causethe puck to go to the right. Accordingly the present invention on thisscore duplicates what one encounters in actual play. At the same time,obviating the .need for an actual goalie and his equipment therebyavoiding the necessity for the equipment, the extra player and above allavoiding injury to a player who plays in this game.

Referring now again to FIG. 2, we see an opening 14, this duplicates theopening one encounters in actual play between the goalies legs and ifyou are fortunate enough to hit dead center, the puck will score.However, this is not too common, but it does give variety and a sense ofreality to the players so that they will learn to accommodate this facetof play.

Along this same line, a pocket has been placed where the goalie's handis at 15. Pocket 15, if the puck is hit there, will be caught by theplayer and it will not be diverted to the left or the right and the puckwill remain there and the players will have to retrieve it in order tocontinue play. Again a sense of realism is introduced to the game by wayof this pocket and if the player aims his puck toward the goalie to hishand it will be intercepted and the diversion to the left or the rightwill not be encountered and he will not be able to retrieve the puck, soaccordingly he will avoid aiming the puck or letting the puck leave theice to that height.

The present invention is constructed of tubing 39 which makes a completeframe, the frame has two parts for sloping surfaces 12 and 13 which arehinged together by a simple loop mechanism 40. The supports are also ofsteel tubing and are pivotally connected at point 41 by means of asimple pin arrangement. Struts 20 are held to the goal frame by means ofthumb screws 45, such arrangements are well-known in the art and willnot be discussed further. Any clamp which is easily affixed to the framewill do, nothing is complex about it. The entire frame 12 and 13 arecovered preferably by means of a latex material, the latex material willabsorb the impact of the puck and cause it to be deflected to the rightor left as the case maybe. However, canvas and even plywood can be usedeffectively in this regard, however plywood would be quite noisy and ifthe game were in front of ones house, on the street, neighbors wouldcomplain from the constant impact of the puck against the hard plywoodsurface. Accordingly, the preferred material is sheet latex or rubber ofabout a 43-inch grade, thinner grades might rip due to constant usage.It is apparent now that the simple frame of steel or aluminum or evenwood for that matter, can be affixedby means of simple clamps to thegoal and a sheet of latex or similar material covering the frameworkwill provide a very inexpensive goaltender. Some grades of plastic mightbe found as durable and more inexpensive and may be substituted for thesheet material. An open net, although possibly useful, is not helddesirable because the puck after a while would be caught in the openingsor diverted in an askew manner, so preferably a solid sheet would be thepreferred material.

As I have pointed out, through this specification the embodiment of agoaltender as l have described it can be useful on ice hockey duringtraining and practice sessions. Owing to its inexpensive nature, it canalso be used in the popular game of street hockey, whereby children playin the street without skates, but use hockey sticks and a puck. Thedanger of injury to a goaltender is again considerably reduced by meansof the present invention. Accordingly, owing to the inexpensive natureof the present invention, this unit will find extensive use for youngpeople in the game of street hockey.

Although I have described my invention with reference to specificapparatus, I do not wish to be limited thereby. I wish to be limitedonly by the appended claims.

l claim:

1. A goaltender for rejecting pucks to prevent scoring in combinationwith a hockey goal commonly used in the popular hockey game comprising,

a first vertical puck rejecting frame,

a second vertical puck rejecting frame,

- resilient deflecting energy absorbent means for covering said frames,

means for interconnecting said frames at a preselected angle, saidframes being interconnected with an opening midway therebetween, saidopening being shaped to simulate the opening between the legs of agoalie, at least one of said first frame and said second frame furtherincluding means therein for receiving and holding a puck simulating thecatching of a puck by a player, and means for affixing saidinterconnected frames in a forwardly disposed V-shape in front of saidgoal whereby pucks striking the surface of each angularly disposed frameare diverted to either side of said goal forcing the players to chaseafter it.

2. A goaltender according to claim 1 wherein said covering means isselected from the group consisting of, sheet rubber, sheet plywood, afine nylon mesh, fiberglass and plastic strips.

3. A goaltender according to claim 1 wherein said means for affixingsaid goaltender in a predisposed position in front of said goal includesstruts attachable to said goal by means of a clamp arrangement.

1. A goaltender for rejecting pucks to prevent scoring in combinationwith a hockey goal commonly used in the popular hockey game comprising,a first vertical puck rejecting frame, a second vertical puck rejectingframe, resilient deflecting energy absorbent means for covering saidframes, means for interconnecting said frames at a preselected angle,said frames being interconnected with an opening midway therebetween,said opening being shaped to simulate the opening between the legs of agoalie, at least one of said first frame and said second frame furtheriNcluding means therein for receiving and holding a puck simulating thecatching of a puck by a player, and means for affixing saidinterconnected frames in a forwardly disposed V-shape in front of saidgoal whereby pucks striking the surface of each angularly disposed frameare diverted to either side of said goal forcing the players to chaseafter it.
 2. A goaltender according to claim 1 wherein said coveringmeans is selected from the group consisting of, sheet rubber, sheetplywood, a fine nylon mesh, fiberglass and plastic strips.
 3. Agoaltender according to claim 1 wherein said means for affixing saidgoaltender in a predisposed position in front of said goal includesstruts attachable to said goal by means of a clamp arrangement.